The MyFitnessPal Holiday Recipe Remix continues! In case you’re tuning in for the first time, a few weeks ago we asked you to submit your favorite unhealthy holiday recipes so Elle, the MyFitnessPal Registered Dietitian, could remix them into more nutritious versions of their former selves.
So far we’ve shared Elle’s remixed recipes for a delicious, Spicy, Not Sinful Pumpkin Spice Latte and her lightened up Sweet Potato Pecan Tart. Today we’re sharing Elle’s makeover of MyFitnessPal user Lori‘s hefty Sausage Egg & Cheese Hashbrown Casserole. Her holiday brunch dish packed almost 350 calories, 21 grams of fat and over 50% of the recommended amount of saturated fat per slice. But really, when it comes to large casserole dishes and hefty serving spoons, who has the self-control to dish out just one slice?
Elle lightened up a few ingredients and took the guesswork out of portion size with these savory Sausage Egg Nests.
Pre-baked, grated potato forms a nice little nest for the egg, green onion, sausage and cheese. To cut the fat without losing that delicious sausage flavor, Elle swapped out ground pork for ground chicken sausage.
Not only did she keep the sausage, Elle also added bacon. Just a little crispy thick-cut bacon sprinkled on top adds a lot of flavor.
Allowing us to eat bacon? Now that’s our kind of Registered Dietitian!
Even with the bacon, a serving of 2 sausage egg nests has 90 fewer calories, 6 fewer grams of fat, and about half the amount of saturated fat in Lori’s sausage casserole bomb.
Besides looking great on a serving platter, these Sausage Egg Nests allow all of your holiday brunch guests to get hot eggs, which is probably why those sinful egg casseroles came about in the first place.
Here, Elle explains how she remixed the recipe:
The recipe is below–just be sure to log your Sausage Egg Nests in MyFitnessPal! Search Holiday Recipe Remix in the food database. There you’ll find the full nutrition info and be able add these delicious numbers to your food diary!
If you don’t yet have a MyFitnessPal account, you can sign up on the web or by downloading the free app for your iPhone, iPad, Android or Windows mobile device.
Serves: 6 Serving Size: 2 Sausage Egg Nests Ingredients Directions Preheat oven to 425°F and bake potatoes for 25-30 minutes, until halfway baked. Note: Potatoes must not be fully cooked before shredding, otherwise they will fall apart when shredded. When poked with a knife, potatoes should still be somewhat firm in the middle. Let cool. Grate until you have 3 cups of shredded potato and set aside. This step can be done a day ahead of time. Just store potatoes, covered, in the refrigerator. Next, cook the bacon until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and dice once cool. Drain off the bacon fat and sauté the yellow onion in the same hot pan for 3-5 minutes. Combine onion, ground pepper and salt to the potatoes. Toss until combined. Decrease oven temperature to 400F. Lightly rub or spray a 12-cup muffin tin with canola oil and press a generous ¼ cup of the potato mixture into each cup, distributing potatoes around the bottom and up the sides. The potatoes will shrink, thus a little overflow is okay. Apply a very light brushing of oil or spray of oil over the potatoes and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on the edges. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Add green onions, cook for an additional 1-2 minutes and remove from heat. Lightly beat eggs, add sausage, green onions and ¼ cup cheddar cheese. Allow potato cups to cool for a few minutes and then add 3 tablespoons of egg mixture to each until hash brown nests are nearly full. Sprinkle tops with remaining cheddar cheese, about 1 teaspoon per nest, and place back into oven for 15-20 minutes, until set. Garnish with bacon and finely chopped green onions if you have extra. Once slightly cooled, remove egg cups from tins using a fork and a spoon.Sausage Egg Nests
Lori’s recipe was voted the grand prize winner of our Holiday Recipe Remix Contest and will be getting a MyFitnessPal apron, a Withings Smart Body Analyzer scale, a cookbook from Cooking Light, a Fitbug Orb and a one-week personalized meal plan from Elle, the MyFitnessPal RD!
Healthfully,
The MyFitnessPal Team
Photos by Elle Penner | MyFitnessPal
